


Honey Bee Mine

by casgirlsam



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bee Keeper Castiel, First Meetings, Flirty Castiel (Supernatural), Flustered Dean Winchester, Geek Dean Winchester, Lawyer Sam Winchester, M/M, Siblings, established claire novak/kaia nieves (mentioned), established sam winchester/eileen lahey (mentioned), flower shop owner dean winchester, gratuitous use of fun nicknames for sammy, i wont ever write it but dean n cas adopt him :'), jack exists in this universe i swear, just not in this story, light use of bee related puns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:27:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26168623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/casgirlsam/pseuds/casgirlsam
Summary: "Dean had been patient. Maybe too patient if you asked him. But there’s only so much a man can take. He had let it go and dealt with the bees in his backyard garden at first because hey, he owned a flower shop. He understood pollination. But that was before the honey."
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 22
Kudos: 131





	Honey Bee Mine

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to Legal Eagle on twitter and youtube for the inspiration and for my love [nickelkeep](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickelkeep/pseuds/nickelkeep) for betaing <3

Dean had been patient. Maybe too patient if you asked him. But there’s only so much a man can take.

He had let it go and dealt with the bees in his backyard garden at first because hey, he owned a flower shop. He understood pollination. But that was before the honey.

***

Dean was two seasons deep into his Dr. Sexy rewatch when he heard the giant moose footsteps of his younger brother Sam. He glanced up briefly from the TV to see said brother carrying a wooden crate in his arms. “Better have wiped your feet, bitch,” Dean warned before taking a swig of the beer in his hand.

Sam rolled his eyes. “Whatever, jerk.” Dean felt rather than saw Sam throw up Bitch Face #37, the one specifically reserved for judging Dean’s pastimes. “Are you planning on getting dressed today?”

“Probably not.”

“Dean--” 

Here came the lecture. Wasn’t Dean, by just the sheer fact he practically raised his baby brother, supposed to be the one that used stern tones and disappointing looks? He resisted the urge to sigh. At least he had proof he raised the kid right.

“You’re the one that told me I work too hard, ain’t you?

“Well, yes--”

“This is me relaxin’.” He glanced over as Sam plopped into the easy chair and placed a leg on his coffee table. Dean raised a leg and kicked it down. “And it's _my_ house.”

Sam looked like he did when Dean caught him that one time when they were kids trying to take candy from Dean’s secret snack stash. He gave a small smirk as he settled back into the couch. Balance had been restored to the universe.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” Dean asked, pressing “play” to continue where he left off. “Shouldn’t you be drooling over vegetables with Eileen right now?”

“Dean, it's three in the afternoon.”

The tips of Dean’s ears turned red. He hadn’t meant to spend all of his first day off in months inside watching a TV show he’s seen so many times he could quote nearly every line (quite the feat, in Dean’s opinion, since the show had 15 seasons). Instead of mentioning all of this to his pain-in-the-ass little brother, he uttered a simple, quiet “Oh,” trying to keep the embarrassment out of his voice.

Dean looked up in time to see a glass jar flying towards him. “Jesus, Sam!” he exclaimed as he caught the projectile. He heard his brother chuckle as he contemplated chucking it back at Sam’s head.

“Thought of you when I saw it,” Sam explained, no note of apology in his voice for nearly giving the order Winchester a concussion. 

Said older brother was now examining the label of the jar, turning it to the front. There on the front of the label were two cartoon bees facing each other. One bee was on one knee, holding a bouquet of nondescript flowers up to the other bee. Above the pair was a speech bubble with “Honey Bee Mine” in large print. Dean shook his head as he laughed. “That’s clever.”

Sam smiled smugly. “I knew you’d appreciate it.”

“Yeah, fine, whatever.”

Sam relaxed back in the chair. “And get this: The owner said I looked familiar, so we got to talking and, apparently, he lives around here.”

“It’s more likely he knows you because the farmers market is your church.”

As Sam flipped him off, it hit Dean. Someone with beehives and recognizes Sammy from his visits here? That could be only one person. “That son of a bitch!”

Sam startled back to sitting up in the chair. “He’s stealing from me and profiting from it!” Dean explained in response to Sam’s confused face.

“Yeah, that clarifies nothing. I’m still missing some key details here.”

Dean rolled his eyes. “The owner of this honey is the same guy whose bees are constantly in my backyard.” He stood suddenly, still tightly gripping the offending jar of honey. “This thieving mother fucker lives next door.” his face lit up with an idea. “Hey, Lawyer Boy,” he said excitedly. “I can sue him for using my pollen, right? It's my property he’s profiting off of.”

Sam barked out a loud, _long_ laugh. The giant laughed so hard, and so suddenly, he nearly fell out of the old easy chair. After a look from Dean, Sam cleared his throat and went into Lawyer Mode. “As your legal counsel, I _strongly_ advise against it.” He smirked. “And as your brother, I think that’s the most ridiculous and asinine idea I’ve ever heard in my life.”

“Thanks a lot, Sammy,” Dean grumbled as he headed out towards the entry hall. He turned for a moment. “You know, family is supposed to help in a time of crisis.”

“Dean, it's just honey.”

“No, it's not ‘just honey.’ It's the principle!” He turned and continued his journey to the door.

“I’m not helping you lose a lawsuit and countless amounts of money. Wait,” Sam followed his brother, finally realizing he was leaving. “Where the hell are you going?”

“I’m settling this the old fashion way,” Dean replied as he swung his front door open. “Mano E Mano.” At that, he stormed down the porch steps, moose brother trailing behind, mumbling something about Dean’s poor Spanish and making sure someone can call 911.

***

The house next door was a quaint one floor deal with a wildflower garden out front that Dean both loved and envied.

But not today. Today was _war_. And the bright and colorful garden was enemy territory.

Reaching the door, Dean raised his hand to knock. But he hesitated. He had a moment of clarity where he felt ridiculous. He didn’t know anything about this guy. He never met the man. Barely ever saw him. Just glimpses of the back of a head of dark brown hair and an ill-fitting suit as it rushed to a beat-up old tan Plymouth.

Dude seemed like a dork.

Suddenly the front door swung open, the owner probably having been alerted to visitors by Sam’s stomping up the steps and his hollering Dean’s name the whole way down here.

Dean ended up staring into the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. Taking in the rest of the man who owned the sky-blue eyes, he realized there was no suit in sight today. No, today was a worn Taylor Swift t-shirt that looked like the kind of soft that happens over years of love and care. Further down were jeans that were slung low on his hips and, holy shit, he might die just from seeing a peek of a hip bone--

Dean felt a bump on his shoulder. He glared at Sam. “Sorry to bother you like this, Cas, but my brother wanted to meet the man behind the honey, and he brilliantly figured out where you live.”

It was if Dean hadn’t heard Sam’s praise at all. Because at that moment, Dean’s -- apparently mind-meltingly hot -- neighbor smirked as he stared at Dean. Well--

Stared was an understatement. More like he was looking straight at Dean’s soul. While also looking like he wanted to devour him.

Dean swallowed. “Um,” he started, suddenly forgetting every word in his native language he'd spent the past 40 years learning. _Smooth, Winchester._

“He has something to tell you,” Sam bumped him again. “Don’t you, Dean?”

Dean could only stare back at those impossibly deep eyes. “Uh,”

A sigh and then a shove forward and then next thing he knew, him and Hot Neighbor -- Cas -- were alone.

 _Say something!_ Dean’s brain urged him. He glanced down at the Taylor Swift tee stretched across Cas’s torso. It was tight enough that he had initially assumed it was someone else’s, but looking at it again, he saw it was just loose enough that it was an actual gift for the man. Dean smirked as green eyes met blue. “Aren’t you a little old to be a Swift fan?”

Cas seemed unphased from Dean’s teasing except for a raised eyebrow (which he refused to admit was doing things to him). He was about to apologize when Cas shot back “At least I’m not wearing adorably nerdy and obscenely worn-out boxer briefs to meet my neighbor for the first time.” Dean must have made a face because Cas pointed at his crotch.

Confused, Dean followed the other man’s gaze downward. There, in front of his whole neighborhood, he was wearing his favorite pair of boxers that his adopted sister Charlie had given him as a prank gift one year (and by the state of the fabric, that year was far in the past). Faded red fabric adorned his front with a NutterButter snack on the crotch, complete with a bragging inappropriate “FAMILY SIZE!” yellow banner on one corner. His eyes flew wide open, hands went to his front, and he felt his ears flush for the second time that day. He looked back up in time to see Cas throw his head back and laugh. That sound, that neck-- He wanted to continue to experience them. That scary moment of realization brought him back to reality.

That and the second near crotch hit from the offending jar of honey product.

“Honey,” Dean said simply, once Cas’s laughter died down.

“Isn’t it a little too soon for pet names, sweetie?” Cas’s head tilted to the side as he spoke, clearly still having fun at Dean’s expense.

Dean rolled his eyes and, his attire forgotten again, raised the (admittedly) punny jar of honey. “No, I mean _your_ honey. Honey made from _my_ pollen.” 

Now that Dean said it out loud to someone other than Sam, he could see why Sam had laughed at him. But it was the principle of the whole thing. And Dean Henry Winchester never admitted he was wrong or in over his head. And he definitely wouldn’t ever admit that was a flaw.

Cas bit his lip, which caused another rush of… something (Dean refused to think of it as desire), which annoyed him more. “And you’re going to sue me?” His voice was still that light teasing tone from earlier. _Did anything get to this guy?_

“I would, but my legal counsel advised against it.”

“Your brother laughed in your face?”

“Right after putting his big dirty moose hooves all over my coffee table.” Dean felt himself lightening up, and the fight left him. There was something about this man that put him at ease. No matter how hard he tried to fight it. Finally, he allowed himself to smile.

Cas shook his head, chuckling. “Siblings,” he said, clearly having had experience with said humanoid-shaped creatures. “They’re the _worst_.” For the first time during their encounter, Cas stepped outside onto his porch. Dean swallowed a moan before it could manifest as Cas reached a hand out to his right shoulder. “Seems like we need to settle this out of court then.” A squeeze. “What can I do to make this right?” A lingering touch as Cas pulled his hand away. His voice had still been full of teasing, but Dean managed to pick up on the flirtatious implications this time. And through all the flirting and joking front Cas was putting on, Dean saw in Cas’s eyes that he was sincere.

“Dr. Sexy.”

“I’m a CPA by day, actually, but thank you.”

Dean rolled his eyes at his lack of vocabulary all of a sudden. “No, I-- The _show_ Dr. Sexy. Have you seen it before?”

“I can’t say I have.”

“Seriously?” Dean’s eyes went huge with surprise.

Now it was Cas’s turn to be embarrassed. He turned red as he straightened his posture and stuffed his hands into his jean pockets, the confidence Dean witnessed this whole time vanishing. “We didn’t watch a lot of TV growing up. The habit seems to have carried into my adulthood.”

Dean let out an excited laugh as he threw his arm around Cas’s shoulder. This he could do. Talking about his favorite TV show of all time required no brainpower whatsoever. It was as natural to him as breathing or driving his Baby. Yes, no more one-word sentences for Dean while around his hot neighbor.

“You doin’ anything right now? ‘Cause Cas, buddy, we need to give you an education.” 

Cas’s confident grin was back. “As a matter of fact, I’m free all weekend.” He leaned into Dean, eyes shining with intent as if he was leaning in to whisper sweet yet filthy nothings into Dean’s ear. “Your place or mine?”

***

Three years later saw Dean’s loved ones and Cas’s siblings gathered in Dean’s -- _their_ \-- backyard. As Cas’s niece Claire put it, the two men had decided on going, “low-key as fuck” for their wedding. That’s how they ended up having a family barbecue with slightly nicer-than-normal clothing. It could have been mistaken for any other family gathering if not for the cartoon bees on a giant banner hung up behind the happy couple that “Just Married!” The familiar cartoon bees were the same ones from Cas’s honey, but this time, someone (Kaia, Claire’s art student girlfriend) had drawn them in Dean’s plaid flannel and Cas’s CPA work attire, trench coat and all.

As a chorus of “Speech! Speech! Speech!” started up, Sam stood from his place at the picnic table, taking care to make sure his hands were free and that Eileen could see him. “This is the story of how the most ridiculous lawsuit I have ever heard of in my life never, thankfully, saw the light of day in the court system…”

Loud uproarious laughter rang out. But despite his overdramatic eye roll and groan, Dean didn’t care.

Because Sam was wrong, this was the story of how two people found each other because of a simple jar of honey. It's about how those same people laughed and cried and, when their hotheads and their equally stubborn attitudes clashed, fought but always found their way back to each other.

This was a story much sweeter than honey.

**Author's Note:**

> hello, friends! some spoilery things i need to link to:
> 
> 1\. this was inspired by an *actual* question someone had on /r/LegalAdvice! i was inspired after watching [DJ from Legal Eagle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kfGIz3u0RA) (yes i watch lawyers on youtube... SHUT UP) talk about a post where someone wanted to sue their neighbor just like dean. unfortunately for that guy, they didn't have a baby brother that's also a lawyer to lovingly tell them it's ridiculous. just a bunch of internet strangers doing it mockingly.
> 
> 2\. here are [dean's boxers!](https://www.spencersonline.com/product/nutter-butter-boxer-shorts/208718.uts) YES THEY ARE A REAL THING


End file.
